


Always.

by fallenleeft



Category: Black Panther (2018)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-19
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2019-03-21 11:28:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13739913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallenleeft/pseuds/fallenleeft
Summary: T’Challa is still restless following Erik’s death. Nakia is there to put his mind at ease.





	Always.

Of course he was there. He always was whenever something distressed him, and the chaos that had occurred a week prior had shaken him more than he cared to admit. If anyone noticed, they made no mention of it. However, Nakia was not just anyone. She was the love of his life, the one who had the ability to stop the King and Black Panther in his tracks just at the sight of her (much to everyone’s amusement). To him, she practically hung the stars and moon herself. If he would listen to anyone, it would be her, besides his immediate family of course.

Sitting on the edge of the cliff was T’Challa, almost serene-looking as he watched the sun set if not for the way his shoulders were tense, back ramrod straight, hands on his lap clenched. This was his ‘thinking place’ as she liked to call it. And from the looks of it, not much thinking really paid off. He was still troubled, and well, if even his thinking place could not help him, then maybe she could. 

Nakia stood just a few feet away from him, waiting for any indication that he had sensed her. Even if they were together now, they still respected each other’s space and personal bubble. When she saw his shoulders drooping slightly and his hands unclenching, she approached him quietly. 

“Nakia,” T’Challa breathed, by way of greeting. She had to stifle a giggle; he really was smitten with her. 

“T’Challa,” she replied, the smile evident in her voice. “May I sit?”

T’Challa turned to look over his shoulder at her and gestured to the spot beside him. Not wasting a moment longer, she walked the few steps between them and sat down at his side. As if on instinct (and she was sure it was), T’Challa took her hand and gently laced his fingers with hers. It still filled her with awe at how warm and comfortable her hands felt in his much larger ones, and not feelings of apprehension or dread. She trusted him explicitly (and loved him too).

After a few moments of comfortable silence, she finally brought up the elephant in the room, “What has been bothering you, My King?” When he merely turned to look at her with a (clearly fake) look of confusion, she raised an eyebrow. “Don’t think I have not noticed your haggard look recently. And how you walk like you carry the entire universe on your shoulders. You have not been sleeping, have you?” She meant it more of a statement than a question, and he knew.

“Of course I have, Nakia,” assured T’Challa, a small smile playing on his lips. “Don’t worry so much about me. I think you should worry more about that project of yours.” She refrained from rolling her eyes. Trust the King to deflect the subject. And then he had to lift their joined hands to his lips and kiss her knuckles, that smile still evident across his face. Oh, his deflection game was strong today. And she almost gave in. Keyword being almost. 

“T’Challa…” she said warningly. “I’m serious.”

“And I am too,” he fired back almost immediately. “There is nothing for you to worry about. I am perfectly fine.”

Warning bells rang in her head. His walls were rapidly going up by the second. 

If she were to look at all the pointers as to why T’Challa was so troubled, they would have all directed her to Erik Killmonger. He had, after all, confided in her when he had first found out about the truth behind his uncle’s death and the existence of his cousin. And so, she inhaled and took a leap of faith.

“It’s about Erik, is it not? Your cousin?”

She knew he was about to pull back, draw back into himself, but she held on tightly to his hand. I am not letting you escape this. On other days, he would have been perfectly fine with sharing his thoughts and being open with her, so she did not really understand why he was shying away from her now, but she supposed everyone had those days.

He knew she was no doubt being stubborn about it. She was not about to let the matter go until he explained himself, so he sighed and looked her in the eye, his eyes so expressive, so sad, like he wanted to cry but no tears would come. “Erik… My cousin… he truly believed what he was doing was right. He was so hurt, so oppressed by the world that he closed himself off. He closed his heart off. When I offered to heal him using the technology we have here, his mind immediately thought that I was going to imprison him.” He looked down to their hands, taking a moment to gather himself. She would willingly give him all the time he needed so long as he talked to her and eased his burdens.

“I-I was going to, but Nakia, I knew that I could not let him stay in prison for long. It was my father’s mistake in the past that made him the way he was, and I was going to correct that mistake,” T’Challa said earnestly. “I really was.”

This time, Nakia grabbed his other hand and held both his hands in hers, looking him in the eye. Her expression was sincere but firm, the kind that left no room for arguments. “And you did, T’Challa. You did. No matter what you did, if he did not want saving, then you could not have saved him even if you tried. He made up his mind, T’Challa. He knew what he wanted, and he chose that. Don’t burden yourself with his decision. Instead, live to honour the better parts of his memory and don’t repeat the same mistake that created him.” 

T’Challa’s smile this time was genuine, and her heart soared knowing that she was the one that put it there (not that she was ever going to admit that to anyone, let alone him). “You always know what to say, my love.”

She returned his smile. “I have to if I am going to be with you for the rest of your life, eh?”

If possible, his grin grew wider. “So you do admit it! You loved me still even when we broke up.”

Nakia leaned closer to him. “I never stopped loving you and I never will, My King.”

“And I you, My Queen,” he whispered softly before closing the distance between them, his lips speaking volumes for what he did not. Thank you, his kiss seemed to say. For everything.

You are welcome, hers said as she pressed more against his lips. Always.

**Author's Note:**

> I wouldn't be lying if I said this is more than a little bit nerve-wracking for me. My first fic to be posted (and finished), and a Black Panther one at that! What an honour to write a fanfic for such a lovely film, and an oh-my-goodness-so-cute-going-to-die-from-fluff OTP!! Stay tuned for more and please let me know what you think!


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